Kittur War

When the British wanted to secede the kingdom to their empire by putting forward the doctrine of lapse as Rani Chennamma’s son was adopted, the queen refused to secede her kingdom after her husband’s death. Aided by Rayanna, she fought British bravely but was defeated and imprisoned.

Rayanna's Guerrilla War

Sangolli Rayanna continued to fight the British. His land was confiscated, and of what remained of it was heavily taxed. He taxed the landlords and built up an army from the masses. He used guerrilla tactics to attack government property; burnt land records and extracted huge sums of money from notorious landlords and bureaucrats. Rayanna is considered by many historians as the pioneer of guerrilla warfare in India. He continued this warfare till 1829.

The landlords along with the British forced his father-in-law Laxman to cheat Rayanna. When Rayanna was having a bath in a stream near Dori Benachi, the British soldiers attacked, at that moment Rayanna's sword was in Laxman's hand. When Rayanna asked for his...Read More